Liverpool put in a much better performance during their Champions League match against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
The Reds have been stuttering for more than two months now, and after Mohamed Salah caused a storm within the club at the weekend, many fans were dreading the trip to Milan.
Having dropped Salah, Arne Slot also saw Federico Chiesa lost to illness and Cody Gakpo go down with an injury. With only Rio Ngumoha to call upon as a natural winger, the Liverpool head coach had to try something different.
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This finally opened the door to Slot playing Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak in a front two together.
As well as going with a slightly different forward line, the shuffle caused a reshaping of Liverpool‘s midfield, with Alan Shearer explaining exactly how the new system was working.
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One more reason Liverpool fans have been so desperate to see Ekitike and Isak paired together is to get a glimpse of Florian Wirtz pulling the strings behind them.
Although it felt like the perfect time for Slot to trial this exciting formation, the Dutchman instead chose to leave Wirtz on the bench, picking Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister instead.
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On paper, supporters may have expected Szoboszlai to play the ‘Wirtz role’, but as Shearer noted on commentary for Amazon Prime Sport during the first-half, the Hungarian rather shared duties with Mac Allister.
“It’s really noticeable that either Mac Allister or Szoboszlai, when Liverpool have the ball the two centre forwards split, one of them is desperate to get up there and support them,” said the former Newcastle striker.
With Jones and Gravenberch providing a shield in-front of the defence, Liverpool immediately looked more solid at the back, while the rotation of Szoboszlai and Mac Allister in support of Ekitike and Isak caused Inter problems.
Given the personnel at his disposal in the Liverpool squad, this looks like as good a bet as any for Slot while Salah remains out of the team.
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When Liverpool signed Ekitike, Isak and Wirtz last summer, this had always looked like the plan from Slot.
Of course, Salah would have featured in that as well, and it may still be that the Dutch coach wants to play with three attackers.
But the make-up of the squad is such that this has to be something Slot looks to implement on a more permanent basis.
It was not always perfect, and there were times when Liverpool looked like they needed more width. But the qualities of the players at his disposal are well suited to this formation and playing it more will only aid that familiarity.
In an ideal world Wirtz would take the place of Szoboszlai or Mac Allister, meaning Slot can utilise all three of his big-name signings in a system which plays to all of their strengths. The first step towards that came at San Siro.
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